Semi-reflective tones on the branches of this snowflake give it a metallic look and a sense of depth. This is all created by very careful positioning of the light and the angle at which it bounces back to the camera.

As with all of the snowflake images, the snowflake itself is photographed on an angle and then focus-stacked, allowing for a better sense of life.

Every miserable snow storm is just billions of these shining silver crystals. The silver lining indeed.

The “sword” is an ice needle, another type of snow crystal formation that are common during (relatively) warmer snowfalls if the conditions are right.

If you look closely, you can see the “sword” reflecting in the “shield”. Seconds later the battle was over; they both melted.

You’ll notice some magenta and green/cyan colour casts in this image. They are present in most of my images, and could be considered chromatic aberrations, a defect in the way light is bent by the lens to create the image. Sometimes I leave it in, as it adds a certain shimmer and life to a snowflake.

Nature is beautiful.

From the three snowflakes layered on top (see if you can spot them all) to the different styles of opposing branches, this snowflake represents a beautiful balancing act.

Something about this image reminds me of detailed embroidered royal crests and emblems.

This snowflake, however, clearly shows 18 triangles forming into a larger hexagon radiating out from the centre. The mysteries in a simple crystal of ice always amaze me. I’m sure there is an explanation for this, but the physics describing it would be too much for me to understand.

I’ll just admire it and wonder.

Why this snowflake lacks more elaborate growth is a mystery to me, known only by the cloud in which it formed.

I can tell, however, that the snowflake has a few run-ins with water droplets during its life. The bumps along its surface that hide the clean crystalline structure were likely caused by collisions with tiny water droplets on its way to earth.

The snowflake in behind is on a slightly different angle, making the reflected light bounce back on an angle different from that of the camera (appearing clear). The back snowflake is unique in it’s own right, taking on a triangular shape while keeping six sides.

Every snowflake is not only unique, but also has its own curiosities to ponder.

This crystal grew with hard faceted edges that reminded me of blades. Prismatic colours show up through some of the branches to add a little extra impact, all leading to a glowing center.

Snowflakes such as this are rarely two-dimensional, with extra surface details and even another smaller snowflake resting on top. Bringing it all into focus can be a challenge, but worth the reward of a beautiful image.

You can see a slight bit of motion blur on the legs, which adds to the action. The leg appears both clear and blurred due to two exposures – one created by the ambient light and one created by the ring flash I used to make this image.

Fun fact about bees: Bees feed on the nectar produced by flowers, which gets transformed into honey inside the bee’s digestive system by special enzymes. Its then dried and stored for future consumption.

This little critter was all over the place – running underneath flowers and behind stems, being very difficult to capture a nice clean image of. I switched focus to other foraging insects nearby and kept my eye on this little bug.

After about 15 minutes, it settled itself down on a leaf and I was able to cautiously approach to make this image.